BACKGROUND.Every spring, public school children in many
Nebraska school districts in several grades take the California Achievement Test
(CAT).Students in the Omaha Public
Schools system have taken the CAT Test for 12 years.During March, 2005, pupils in Grades 2, 5,
and 8 participated and received assessments in reading, language, and
math.This test helps parents, students,
and educators make decisions about academic needs and monitor the effectiveness
of curriculum, class programs, and instructional practices.It permits school districts to compare the
achievement of students in their schools to those throughout the state and
nation.The CAT is a battery of
norm-referenced standardized tests, achievement
compared to the achievement of a national norm group administered the same test
at about the same time of year.Norm-referenced test items discriminate among students at different
achievement levels. Statistically, the achievement level below the 23rd
percentile is less than average, that above 77%
considered above average.OPS CAT test
scores continue to generally plummet.

READING.In
Grade 2, reading vocabulary and comprehension subtests marked at the 61st
percentile, the same as that in 1999-2000.69% of these students fell at or below average.In Grade 5, the same subtests scored at the
56th percentile, 1% lower than in 1999-2000. 72% of these kids fell
at or below average.In Grade 8, these
subtests ranked at 53% compared to 56% in 1999-2000.76% of these students pegged at or below
average.No improvement.

LANGUAGE.In language mechanics and expression
subtests, Grade 2 stood at 71% compared to 72% in 1999-2000.58% of these students fell at or below
average.Grade 5 subtests scored at the
67th percentile compared to 70th in 1999-2000.61% of these kids stood at or below
average.In Grade 8, these subtests
ranked at 57% compared to 64% in 1999-2000.69% of these students pegged at or below average.No improvement here.

MATH.In math computation and concepts
subtests, Grade 2 ranked at 78%, 2 percentages higher than in 1999-2000.47% of these students fell at or below
average.Grade 5 subtests scored at the
65th percentile compared to 64% in 1999-2000.65% of these kids stood at or below
average.Grade 8 subtests scored at 57%,
1% higher than in 1999-2000.74% of these students pegged at or below average, despite three
slightly higher rankings here!

The mean scores in all these 3 grades fell below the 77th
percentile national norm.8th
Graders performed worse in all categories of these curricula compared to 2002!

SCHOOL RANKINGS.Of
62 OPS elementary school classes of 2nd, 5th, and 8th
Grade students, only 3 ranked at or above average in reading, only 16 at or
above average in language, and only 25 at or above average in math.Only 3 schools in the entire district pegged
above average in all 3 categories.35
(77%) elementary schools showed below average scores in all 3 categories.Examining the 10 middle schools, none ranked
at or above average in reading, 1 ranked above average in language, and 0
pegged at above average in math.9
middle schools showed below average in all 3 curricula.29 of 62 OPS elementary schools, almost 50%,
revealed lower cumulative scores counting each of the 3 grades, compared to
2000.Compared to the same 9 middle
schools in 2000, these OPS schools all showed lower cumulative scores.

CONCLUSION.The OPS school board annually hikes our
property taxes, complains that it receives insufficient state aid, and pleads
for additional federal monies.However,
it squanders its revenue on laptop computers and public relations gimmicks
instead of investing it in basic educational methods like phonics and Spaulding
Reading.The OP$ administration excuses
low test scores by citing poor, minority, and immigrant children, yet it
continues to useeducational methods in
its classrooms long ago proved worthless.OPS should invest its revenues in proved, basic curricula to boost its
standardized test scores, as already accomplished in other urban school
districts.

Research,
analysis, and documentation for this issue paper done by Nebraska Taxpayers
for Freedom.This material
copyrighted by NE Taxpayers for Freedom, with express prior permission granted
for its use by Citizens for Local Control, Cherry County Taxpayers, Dawes
County Taxpayers, and other groups in the Tax Freedom Network.10-05.C